Barristers vote to accept new legal aid deal from government and end strike
updated on 13 June 2018
Criminal barristers have narrowly voted to end their strike action and accept a new funding deal offered by the government, but senior figures at the Bar have warned that the dispute remains unresolved.
Members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) voted by 52% to 48% to accept the government’s offer of a new £15 million investment to fund legal aid cases, which includes a 1% fee increase for all legal aid fees. Barristers at over 50 chambers will now return to accepting new publicly funded cases.
Despite their acceptance of the government’s offer, Bar leaders insist that the dispute is not over because it is about more than fees. But as Legal Futures speculated yesterday, the deal may represent a missed opportunity for barristers to present a "united front" with struggling solicitors, while the government may be relieved that barristers' concerns can be put aside once again, at least for a while.
Angela Rafferty QC, chair of the CBA and Andrew Walker QC, chair of the Bar Council told parliament's justice select committee that the next step to securing justice must be to introduce a protected budget for legal aid. The CBA has also announced that it will now campaign to improve conditions for prosecutors.
In a statement following the announcement that the government’s offer had been accepted, Rafferty said: "This outcome is neither a defeat nor a victory. The criminal Bar has faced degradation and despair and it still does. This is a step forward. We must all ensure we do not take any more steps back…This proposal is the beginning and not the end of our campaign to improve the broken system we all work in every day. We still face exceptional difficulties, as do our solicitor colleagues.
"This will not fix the terrible conditions, the unhealthy and unreasonably onerous working practices and the general decrepitude. However, if we consider it a start we can build on it.
"The fact we have achieved this small gain shows that we as a profession are both capable and motivated to unite and unite we will if things do not continue to change in the near future."
